Utah Governor Spencer Cox apologized on Monday for an error in his state's data that showed 70 percent of adults had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine before this benchmark was actually hit.
In a statement on Twitter, he said the true number of over-18s who have been given at least one shot is 67.07 percent.
The error occurred due to an issue with counting doses administered in Utah by federal agencies, including pharmacy partnerships and Indian Health Services.
'We screwed up. And I sincerely apologize,' he wrote in a statement attached to a tweet published on Monday afternoon.
'A couple days ago, we learned that there was a mistake in the way we had counted federal doses,' he wrote. 'It soon became clear that we had only reached 67.07%. While federal data sharing has been extremely difficult, this one is on us. Our data team is devastated and embarrassed. And so am I.'
Cox wrote that there is no evidence the miscalculation was due to an ethical issue and that it was 'a result of simple human error.'
Utah Governor Spencer Cox apologized for an error in his state's data showing 70% of adults had received at least one COVID-19 shot before the benchmark was actually hit
Utah's initial 70% vaccination announcement overestimated the doses administered by federal agencies. Pictured: Vaccination at a clinic in Springfield, Missouri
Cox said that the data team at Utah's Department of Health has 're-examined processes to prevent this type of error from happening again.'
Utah is working to increase vaccinations in the state through mobile vaccination sites, community partnerships, and education campaigns.
While many states did not hit Biden's 70 percent vaccination goal by July 4, the number is still considered an important benchmark on the path to herd immunity.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 20 states and the District of Columbia have met the goal, as of July 13 - vaccinating at least 70 percent of their adult populations with at least one dose.
Vermont has
